Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia on Saturday powered to a historic 100m Olympic gold, the first Games medal ever won by the Caribbean island, just hours after US gymnastics legend Simone Biles had also vaulted into the history books.
With firsts being made all over Paris on an action-packed day, a row over gender eligibility in boxing rumbled on as the Algerian in the spotlight boxed her way to a guaranteed medal.
Alfred conjured up a superb race in the Parisian rain to shock favorite Sha’Carri Richardson into silver with a time of 10.72 seconds in front of a raucous crowd at the Stade de France.
Photo: Reuters
The 23-year-old was in tears of celebration after sealing a sensational win — she had never finished on the podium at a major outdoor championships prior to Saturday’s final.
“It feels amazing ... it still hasn’t sunk in,” Alfred said.
There was also heartbreak for two-time 100m gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from Jamaica, who pulled out just before the semi-final, apparently injured.
Photo: AFP
The flamboyant Richardson was bidding for redemption three years since a positive marijuana test after her victory at the US trials wrecked her Olympic dreams in Tokyo.
From one redemption campaign to another.
US gymnastics great Simone Biles clinched her third gold in Paris after famously imploding in Tokyo with the debilitating mental block known as the “twisties.”
Photo: Reuters
Her demons well and truly conquered, the 27-year-old Biles landed a stunning vault so difficult no other woman even attempts it.
“I kind of nailed that one,” grinned Biles, who admitted she was tempted by her home Olympics in Los Angeles in four years, but was not getting any younger.
More history was made at the gymnastics as Carlos Yulo from the Philippines snatched his country’s second-ever gold, triumphing in the men’s floor exercise.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Then Rhys McClenaghan captured Ireland’s first-ever Olympic gymnastics medal with gold on the pommel horse.
More history was made in the pool on the penultimate night of swimming as US legend Katie Ledecky powered to a fourth consecutive 800m freestyle title.
No other woman swimmer has won gold at four different Olympics and Ledecky said that was the record that gave her particular satisfaction.
“I think four times one is the one that kind of means the most to me. I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I’m just really happy that I could get the job done,” she said.
Her ninth career Olympic gold at the age of 27 equaled former Soviet-era artistic gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated female Olympian in any sport.
The greatest distance swimmer the sport has seen, she had already won the 1,500m, and earned silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle in Paris.
Meanwhile, teen sensation Summer McIntosh enhanced her status as one of the Paris rising stars, taking her third gold in the 200m individual medley with an astonishing late surge.
Then the United States notched the second world record of the Olympic swimming competition, blasting to gold in the 4x100m mixed medley relay.
Off the field of play, a simmering scrap over gender in boxing was back in the spotlight as Imane Khelif overcame Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori on points to ensure at least a bronze medal.
The Algerian broke down in tears after the bout, which also saw the two boxers share an embrace.
“It’s a battle, it’s for my dignity,” Khelif said.
“You bring honor to Algeria, Algerian women and Algerian boxing,” Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune wrote on social media.
The International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif at last year’s world championship, saying she had failed an unspecified gender eligibility test, but there is no suggestion that Khelif identifies as anything other than a woman.
The second full day of athletics in Paris also saw Ryan Crouser from the US win a third consecutive men’s Olympic shot put gold, while on the clay courts of Roland Garros, Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win Olympic tennis singles gold, defeating Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
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